1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a printer that can uniformly handle different types of continuous recording paper, such as roll paper and fanfold paper. More particularly, the invention relates to a printer having a common transportation path that passes a printing position inside the printer, a first paper transportation path from the paper inlet toward the common transportation path, and a second paper transportation path from a roll paper compartment toward the common transportation path.
2. Description of Related Art
Printers that can selectively use fanfold paper and roll paper are known from the literature. In this type of printer, fanfold paper is inserted from a paper inlet into the printer case, and then conveyed through a paper transportation path past the printing position and printed. Roll paper is held in a roll paper compartment rendered inside the case, and the recording paper pulled off the roll is conveyed from the roll paper compartment through the paper transportation path past the printing position and printed. The portion of the paper transportation path that passes the printing position is a common transportation path through which both the fanfold paper and roll paper are conveyed.
The printer taught in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2008-1069 has both a fanfold paper transportation path that goes from the paper inlet to the common transportation path, and a roll paper transportation path that goes from the roll paper compartment to the common transportation path, inside the printer.
Because the entire roll paper transportation path from the roll paper compartment to the common transportation path is rendered inside the case in the printer of JP-A-2008-1069, the printer can be made smaller. However, in order to load fanfold paper inserted from the paper inlet to the printing position, the printer cover must be opened and the fanfold paper must be manually threaded from the fanfold paper transportation path to the common transportation path in the same way as when the roll paper is loaded.
More specifically, in order to guide both roll paper pulled from the paper roll and fanfold paper to the common transportation path, the roll paper path and the fanfold paper path must merge upstream from the common transportation path. A disjunction is therefore formed where the paths merge between the common transportation path and the roll paper transportation path, and between the common transportation path and the fanfold paper transportation path. However, if a disjunction is formed between the common transportation path and the fanfold paper transportation path, fanfold paper inserted from the paper inlet to the printer can be directed at this disjunction in a direction other than the desired direction, and may thus be unable to reach the common transportation path. A seam in the fanfold paper may also get caught at this disjunction, resulting in the fanfold paper inserted to the printer becoming jammed. To avoid this problem with the printer of JP-A-2008-1069, the printer cover has to be opened in order to guide the fanfold paper to the common transportation path.
In the printer taught in JP-A-2000-296952, the paper inlet communicates directly with the common transportation path, and there is therefore no interruption in the fanfold paper transportation path from the paper inlet to the printing position. Fanfold paper can therefore be loaded into the common transportation path without opening the printer cover by simply inserting the fanfold paper from the paper inlet into the printer. However, because the roll paper transportation path from the roll paper compartment to the common transportation path detours through the paper inlet, the entire roll paper transportation path cannot be rendered inside the printer, and reducing the size of the printer is thus impeded.